Elongated, upright supporting element



y 0, 1967 B. ROHRBACH 3,322,382

ELONGATED, UPRIGHT SUPPORTING ELEMENT I 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed Nov. 2, 1964 WWW y 1967 B. ROHRBACH 3,322,382

ELONGATED, UPRIGHT SUPPORTING ELEMENT Filed Nov. 2, 1964 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 In venzor.-

Patented May 30, 1967 J 2 Claims. Ci. 248-159) The present invention relates to an element for use as a post or support for articles to be displayed. More specifically, this invention is concerned with a supporting element of the collapsible type that may be expanded into a hollow body.

To display advertising objects, such as pictures, texts, or the like, on counters, in shop-windows, or in salesrooms, means are required for mounting such articles. Very frequently, the means used for this purpose are large, unwieldy, and difficult to handle. If the article to be displayed is provided with a support of its own, which is undetachably secured to the article, and if it is large, such as life-size figures, largeaarea pictures, or the like, a relatively large storage room is required to store the advertising articles. Moreover, such articles are difiicuit to transport from one places to another.

Accordingly, it is a primary object of this invention to provide a supporting element which in case of non-use requires little storage space.

Another object of the invention is to provide an element of the unit-construction type, thereby permitting the use of a plurality of elements to form supporting structures of any desired configuration.

Still another object of the invention is to provide a supporting element which in spite of its being collapsible is sufficiently rigid and firm when set up or fitted together.

According to one feature of the invention, the supporting element comprises a plurality of side panels of preferably rectangular shape which are made from suitable material,.such as cardboard, carton, plastics, or the like, and are foldably interconnected the panels being collapsible and expansible about the fold lines, The expanded side panels define a hollow body having two open ends.

According to another feature of the invention one of this side panels has a flap shaped to extend across the hollow body into contact with the other side panels at one of the ends when the flap is bent inwardly about the fold line.

According to a further feature of the invention, the one end of the hollow body has a cross section permitting it to be inserted into the other end of a like hollow body, Two such supporting elements may be telescoped into each other if they are inwardly tapered towards the one end, for instance, or at least one side panel is longitudinally slotted at the one end to make this end resiliently deformable.

According to one embodiment of the invention, one side panel may extend beyond at least one of the fold lines connecting the latter side panel to adjacent side panels, the extending portion being secured to the side panels, for instance by bonding, gluing, pinning, or the like.

Also the supporting element of the invention may be formed into two hollow body sections, so that it can be used either as an angular connecting element in forming angular supporting structures or as a connecting element for interconnecting columns of supporting elements by their ends.

Further features and advantages of the invention will become apparent from the following detailed description, when read in conjunction with the appended drawings, in which several embodiments of the invention are illustrated.

In the drawings-- FIGURE 1 shows an expanded supporting element of the invention, generally indicated at 1;

FIGURE 2 illustrates a supporting element of the same type in collapsed state;

FIGURE 3 shows a plurality of supporting elements of the type of FIG. 1 telescoped into each other;

FIGURE 4 is another embodiment of the invention showing a supporting element generally indicated at II, said element having one large side panel;

FIGURE 5 shows two supporting elements of the invention having one common side panel;

FEGURE 6 shows the two. supporting elements of FIG. 5 when folded together;

FIGURE 7 is still another embodiment of the supporting element of the invention;

FIGURE 8 shows a further embodiment of the supporting element of the invention, whose side panels forming the hollow body extend beyond the body proper;

FIGURE 9 shows the element of FIG. 8 when collapsed;

FIGURE 10 shows another embodiment of the invention in which the supporting element is transversely slitted to form two interconnected longitudinal body sections;

FIGURE ll shows the element of FIG. 10 when used as an angular connecting element.

As in shown in FIG. 1, an element constructed in accordance with the teachings of the invention consists essentially of four relatively long rectangular side panels 1, 2, 3, and 4, which are foldably interconnected by their fold lines 1, 2', 3', and 4' in such a manner that the element may be expanded as shown in FIG. 1, 01' collapsed as illustrated in FIG. 2. Side panel 1 has at its one end a flap 5 which is bent inwards about fold line 5' to insure a sufficient rigidity of the supporting element. The element is slightly tapered throughout its length such that its hollow section at the end remote from the flap is somewhat larger than at the end adjacent to the flap.

FiG. 3 shows a plurality of supporting elements of FIG. 1 telescoped together.

FIG. 4 shows another embodiment of the invention. This supporting element, which is generally indicated at II, has one of its side panels provided with a side portion 6, extended beyond the fold lines and afiixed or bonded to panel 1. Alternatively, side portion 6 may itself form side 1 of element II when cut to proper dimensions.

In FIG. 5, two like supporting elements are shown interconnected by a side portion 6'.

FIG, 6 shows the supporting structure of FIG. 5 in collapsed state.

Preferably, panels 1 through 4 are made from one sheet of suitable material, such as cardboard, as by cutting, and are inter-connected by their folding lines which may be made by stamping.

PEG. 7 shows a supporting element that is not tapered. Instead, two opposite side panels have slots 7, thereby permitting an end 8 to be telescoped into other elements because of its resilience.

In FIGS. 8 and 9, another embodiment of the supporting element of the invention is illustrated, which may be used for instance as vertical support. With this embodirnent, each side panel has side portions 9 through 12. projecting from the hollow body proper, thereby forming supporting legs. Of course, it is also possible to fit a plurality of elements of the type shown in FIGS. 8 and 9 one over another, whereby a column with supporting legs would be formed. Alternatively, the element of FIGS. 8 and 9 may be combined with other plugged elements of the types shown in the drawings.

Thus a further combination may for instance comprise an element of the type shown in FIGS. 8 and 9, one or several elements of FIG. 1, and, finally, an element of the type illustrated in FIG. 4. Such a combination would resemble a sign-board having a pillar and a base.

It is also possible to provide staggered wall coverings by fitting together a plurality of elements of FIG. 5.

In FIG. 10, another embodiment is shown in which the supporting element is partly slitted so as to for-m two longitudinal halves 13 and 13' which are interconnected by their common, continuous side panel 14. This embodiment has the advantage that further combinations of supporting structures may be formed. Thus, as is shown in FIG. 11, the embodiment of FIG. 10 may be used as an angular connecting element.

While a few embodiments of the supporting element of the invention have been shown and described, it should be understood that modifications may be made without departing from the spirit and the scope of the invention. Thus, elements may be employed whose profiles differ from those shown and described herein. That is to say, the profiles need not necessarily have a square or rectangular shape, it being only important that the elements be collapsible land that the shape of the flap be such as to permit the flap to be bent inwards, that is, into the hollow section of the element. Accordingly, the scope of this invention is to be governed by the following claims construed in the light of the foregoing description of this invention.

What is claimed and desired to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A collapsible and expandable structural assembly comprising a plurality of elements joined together and at least two of said elements each consisting of a plurality of side panels intreconnected by longitudinally extending fold lines with said side panels being collapsible and expand-able about the fold lines and the expanded side panels defining a hollow tubular body having two open ends and tapering along its entire length between said open ends so that said body has at one end a cross section smaller than at the other of its ends, a flap in the region of said one end of said body connected to one of the side panels by a fold line and said flap being shaped to extend across the hollow body into contact with the other side panels at said region of said one end of said body when said flap is bent inwardly so as to lend rigidity to said hollow body, and said one end of one of said two elements being inserted and telescopi-cally wedged into the other of said ends of the other of said elements, so that said two elements of said assembly form a substantially rigid portion thereof.

2. An elongated supporting element consisting of a plurality of side panels, said side panels being interconnected by longitudinally extending fold lines and the side panels being collapsible and expansible about the fold lines, the expanded side panels defining a hollow tubular body having two open ends and tapering along the entire length between said ends so that said body has at one end a cross section smaller than at the other of said ends; a flap in the region of said one end of said body connected to one of said side panels by a fold line and the flap being shaped to extend across the hollow body into contact with the other side panels at said region or" said one end of said body when the flap is bent inwardly so as to render said body substantially rigid, whereby said one end of a like hollow body may be inserted and telescopically wedged into said other end so that two of said supporting elements will form a substantially rigid structural assembly, some of said side panels being transversely slitted intermediate said ends and one of the side panels having a transverse fold line in a plane defined by the slits in the panels, the hollow body being bendable along the latter fold line to form two hollow body sections angularly positioned in relation to each other.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 642,193 1/1900 Baeumle 28762 1,545,771 7/1925 Hout 229--45 2,041,751 5/1936 Folsom et al. 248--174 2,900,041 8/1959 Leavitt et al. 28758 X 2,902,176 9/1959 Wathen 248'-174 2,981,827 4/1961 Orsatti et al. 40-125 X 3,176,419 4/1965 Stein 248-174 X CHANCELLOR E. HARRIS, Primary Examiner. CLAUDE A. LE ROY, JOHN PETO, Examiners. 

1. A COLLAPSIBLE AND EXPANDABLE STRUCTURAL ASSEMBLY COMPRISING A PLURALITY OF ELEMENTS JOINED TOGETHER AND AT LEAST TWO OF SAID ELEMENTS EACH CONSISTING OF A PLURALITY OF SIDE PANELS INTRECONNECTED BY LONGITUDINALLY EXTENDING FOLD LINES WITH SAID SIDE PANELS BEING COLLAPSIBLE AND EXPANDABLE ABOUT THE FOLD LINES AND THE EXPANDED SIDE PANEL DEFINING A HOLLOW TUBULAR BODY HAVING TWO OPEN ENDS AND TAPERING ALONG ITS ENTIRE LENGTH BETWEEN SAID OPEN ENDS SO THAT SAID BODY HAS AT ONE END A CROSS SECTION SMALLER THAN THAT AT THE OTHER OF ITS ENDS, A FLAP IN THE REGION OF SAID ONE END OF SAID BODY CONNECTED TO ONE OF THE SIDE PANELS BY A FOLD LINE AND SAID FLAP BEING SHAPED TO EXTEND ACROSS THE HOLLOW BODY INTO CONTACT WITH THE OTHER SIDE PANELS AT SAID REGION OF SAID ONE END OF SAID BODY WHEN SAID FLAP IS BENT INWARDLY SO AS TO LEND RIGIDITY TO SAID HOLLOW BODY, AND SAID ONE END OF ONE OF SAID TWO ELEMENTS BEING INSERTED AND TELESCOPICALLY WEDGED INTO THE OTHER OF SAID ENDS OF THE OTHER OF SAID ELEMENTS, SO THAT SAID TWO ELEMENTS OF SAID ASSEMBLY FORM A SUBSTANTIALLY RIGID PORTION THEREOF. 